WIP, Review, and a Givaway

It’s Wednesday, and I actually have a work in progress to share (WIP)–imagine that! Usually my projects are small, mostly doll size, and are finished in a day or so. But this one is going to take me some time. I’m making my first big quilt (well, bigger than a lap quilt anyway). After market, I felt so inspired by all that quilty-goodness that I decided to make my daughter a  quilt for college.

Here’s my progress so far:

It may not seem like a lot to you, but oh my was this a lot of work to cut out all those squares and rectangles (and I’m not done yet!). 100 of this size, 80 that size, and so on. I felt a little silly when my husband asked: “so let me get this straight. You’re cutting all that fabric up, just to sew it back together?”  Well, yes. Yes, I am. Then I felt a bit nervous when he pointed out, “for a person who doesn’t like mixing patterns or colors together.” [face palm moment]

It’s true. My oldest cannot even look at someone who mixes patterns in an ensemble. Her little sister drives her nuts, because she mixes freely, wearing up to 5 different patterns in one outfit (when she was younger, of course). So I decide to do some investigating — just to see how accepting she may be to having a quilt on her bed. (Right now, she only has solid colored bedding- and she likes it that way). Without telling her it’s for her–I sew all the time, so she suspects nothing yet.

Every quilt I show her she says, “That’s too busy.” Or “it’s got too much going on for me.” Uh, oh. There was this one quilt she said was pretty, but she quickly followed up with, “but not for me.”  After a couple of days of saying, hey, what do you think of this? I did manage to find a couple she liked, or at least had nothing negative to say about.

So then I attempt to find out how she feels about the fabrics I plan to use. Well, turns out: cupcakes can’t go with florals, cupcakes can go with polka dots, florals can go with polka dots, only if the polka dots are small dots, animals can go with florals, but not dots or cupcakes (even tho the animal print has dots on the background–well, alright then), stripes and ginghams can only go with solids or it’s painful to look at. So many rules about mixing patterns…I had no idea. It must be exhausting for her.

I’m going forward anyway. If she doesn’t like it, I’ll keep it for myself and I’ll sew her a blanket instead.

Perkins Dry Goods “Perfect Piecing Seam Guide”

I had the chance to receive this tool at market, and I’m so glad I did. I have a tendency to want my sewing to be perfect and piecing together a quilt has concerned me. I want it all to match up perfectly. This tool is a great way to set your machine for a scant 1/4″ seam perfectly! [a good thing] and it does just that.

Being new to quilting, a scant 1/4″ seam allowance didn’t mean what I thought it meant. A scant 1/4″ seam allowance is just slightly less than a 1/4″. This tool helps you to check the accuracy of your 1/4″ presser foot and needle position. I’m liking it very much and recommend it. It’s easier to see than using the seam gauge.

Giveaway

Don’t forget to enter the Giveaway on Goodreads for your chance to win a free copy of my new book!! Less than a week left to enter. Pop over and enter!